Ji-Yeon Kim

South Korea

How do you feel when you find your Tinder profile in somewhere that you didn’t expect? Is this exhibit a violation of privacy or just an artwork we can understand?

For the project “City of Singles – Portraits of Tinder” I draw 100 profile images from tinder, the most used dating app worldwide, in order to investigate the almost desperate wish of young humans for meaningful connection in a consuming environment of social interaction. In my view the dating app crystallizes the contradictions between the desire for lasting and meaningful human connection and the increasing share of non-connective interactions between human beings. How do we portray ourselves in order to not get swiped away by in competitive environments? Portrait art is an anachronism in the digital age: it is the observer who has to move, not the object, it cannot be “swiped away”, the portrait is unique; it is the ideal type of an analogue object. Bringing back images of human beings from the digital to painted portraits triggers these very contradicting emotions on imperfection and self-assertion and helps to understand us in a more profound way. I aim at displaying 100 acryl paintings (50cmx50cm) with acrylic on canvas. Individuals on the painting have a different name and age as in real life. The 100 paintings relate to anonymity, that we are confronted with in the virtual world. Portraits of Tinder also plays with the still eminent feeling of discomfort, when a user reveals that app used, although access to tinder profiles cannot be restricted. This also relates to the conflict between personal rights or copyright and artistic freedom that I address with ‘Portraits of Tinder’. Is it socially acceptable to publicly display Tinder portrays although the users do not know of the exhibition? I also want to actively invite Tinder users to the exhibition to discuss this question. Overall, ‘Portraits of Tinder’ artistically addresses different questions and associations on the way we present ourselves, human interaction or freedom of art, which in my view makes this art project so fascinating.

Statement

I am a Korean Berlin-based painter who is fascinated by how humans and human nature should be portrayed in a contemporary manner. Portrait painting spans across all generations of art styles. It unfolds and reveals social dynamics, ideology and customs of the respective period. In this way, portrait painting is both the most timeless and subjective discipline in art. During the recent past, the possibilities to visually represent ourselves have never been greater. We all draw our own portraits in real time and they are constantly evolving. I investigate this popularization and transformation of portrait culture in the digital world.

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